London Heathrow Airport

Customer Reviews

"I did not feel welcome"

G Richards (United Kingdom) 18th May 2018

✅ Trip Verified |
Our plane landed on time and we disembarked at 8.35 and were in a queue out the door and around the corridor and then in the arrival hall for more than 2.5 hours, waiting for our passports to be checked. I have indefinite leave to remain and reside in the UK, but most of the people were tourists. They were tired and many of us were travelling alone with no way to get out of the queue to use the toilet. It was a long haul flight. We were brought water to drink. The border agent did not speak to me except to say ‘glasses off’. Of course I thanked her and she said nothing in reply. I did not feel welcome. Our bags were on the floor by the time we arrived in the baggage claim area and the plane info was no longer displayed. People were confused and it was difficult to find anyone to ask for information.

Experience At Airport

Arrival Only

Date Visit

May 2018

Type Of Traveller

Solo Leisure

Queuing Times

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Terminal Cleanliness

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Terminal Seating

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Terminal Signs

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Food Beverages

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Airport Shopping

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Wifi Connectivity

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Airport Staff

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Recommended

no

1/10

"security system is ridiculous"

Diane Renter (Canada) 18th May 2018

❌ Not Verified | The only reason we were at London Heathrow Airport was because of a connection we had to make on our way to Germany. Their security system is ridiculous! We had to go through security/immigration even though we were just passing through. The people working there were probably the rudest we've ever encountered. There was also no signage coming in from the plane as to what direction we had to go. We will never go through London again in future travels. Their staff need a lot of training in PR skills!

Experience At Airport

Transit

Date Visit

April 2018

Type Of Traveller

Couple Leisure

Queuing Times

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Terminal Cleanliness

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Terminal Seating

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Terminal Signs

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Food Beverages

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Airport Shopping

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Airport Staff

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Recommended

no

8/10

"always a breeze"

Kuhan Kandiah (Malaysia) 16th May 2018

❌ Not Verified | Arrival and departure from LHR Terminal 4 is always a breeze minus the possible long lines at immigration especially arrivals post 7am. Shopping is affordable and food and retail outlets are sufficient. One thing lacking is the signage for the Underground from the departure level. Otherwise so much improvements have been done at Terminal 4 for the better.

Experience At Airport

Arrival and Departure

Date Visit

April 2018

Type Of Traveller

Solo Leisure

Queuing Times

12345

Terminal Cleanliness

12345

Terminal Seating

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Terminal Signs

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Food Beverages

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Airport Shopping

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Wifi Connectivity

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Airport Staff

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Recommended

yes

5/10

"give yourself plenty of time"

J Measen (United States) 14th May 2018

✅ Trip Verified | I think what is best said is, Heathrow is Heathrow. It is a massive airport and you must give yourself plenty of time to move between terminals. We flew into 5 and out of 3, with the reverse on our return flight. Everywhere you go there are throngs of people with few if any quiet areas. The really odd thing about Heathrow is that they have very small seating areas around the gates. On our flights I would guess maybe 50 seats for a plane that holds 200 passengers. To accommodate this, they tend to not tell you which gate you will be leaving from until 10-15 minutes before boarding. On our flight to Prague, the board indicated that the gate would be announced 10 minutes before boarding, but some of the gates in the "B" category were 20 minutes away! Luckily, ours was closer than that, but it seems like a strange way of doing things.

Experience At Airport

Transit

Date Visit

May 2018

Type Of Traveller

Couple Leisure

Queuing Times

12345

Terminal Cleanliness

12345

Terminal Seating

12345

Terminal Signs

12345

Food Beverages

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Airport Shopping

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Wifi Connectivity

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Airport Staff

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Recommended

no

2/10

"Very understaffed and poor communication"

Olive Hall (United Kingdom) 5th May 2018

❎ Not Verified | Arrived from Glasgow on Sunday 1st April to terminal 5. Had to wait over an hour for our luggage to arrive. Poor communication about reason for this. Then when we returned on Wednesday 18th April from Washington DC we had to wait on plane after landing for more than an hour. Our flight transfer was on to Glasgow. The directions for flight transfers were poorly signposted and a long walk away. Then we were delayed further by long queues at security. I always have small bag of about 4 toiletries less than 50ml in a clear plastic bag outside my bag which goes through security without delay and have never been stopped in my many travels. I was detained and had to wait for a long while just so someone could weigh this bag. Don't know why. Very understaffed and poor communication again. I will avoid this airport in future.

Experience At Airport

Arrival and Departure

Date Visit

April 2018

Type Of Traveller

Couple Leisure

Queuing Times

12345

Terminal Cleanliness

12345

Terminal Seating

12345

Terminal Signs

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Food Beverages

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Airport Shopping

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Wifi Connectivity

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Airport Staff

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Recommended

no

6/10

"too small for its purpose"

✅ Trip Verified | Terminal 2 is the newest Terminal in London’s Heathrow complex. Again, it is showing signs of being too small for its purpose. This terminal is exclusively for the Star Alliance group of airlines. Departure: Although we had checked in online, we had to join the queue to be checked in properly. That involved a wait for us of about 45 mins. Once through this, the security check, it was plain sailing to the boarding of the aircraft. Arrivals: It was a smooth passage through the Border controls until the luggage reclaim. We had to wait more than 60 minutes to get our luggage. There was the new smart luggage carousel. It would only dispense an additional bag on to the belt when there was a free slot. It came to a point where the belt was full and no new bags could be dispensed. Presumably, the delay was because passengers were held up by the immigration procedures. These existing bags on the belt were presumably from passengers who had been delayed. Surely, someone in the planning department would have thought of a hold up in the chain (i.e. seizure of the flow of passengers) and no bags were being collected from the carousel? In this case, is the latest technology the most suitable route to take? It was certainly frustrating to see the same bags going round and round and no new bags being added. A large crowd of passengers was waiting and venting their frustration. Eventually, the bags were being removed by the delayed passengers and the new bags dispensed onto the belt. We finally got ours after a wait. Our usual time to go through Heathrow is usually 1 hour. This time it was 2 hours. It was a disappointing experience in Heathrow’s latest terminal.

Experience At Airport

Arrival and Departure

Date Visit

April 2018

Type Of Traveller

Couple Leisure

Queuing Times

12345

Terminal Cleanliness

12345

Terminal Seating

12345

Terminal Signs

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Food Beverages

N/A

Recommended

no

8/10

"rest of the terminal is very nice"

Martin Bailey (United Kingdom) 19th April 2018

✅ Trip Verified | Have been using Terminal 2 on a regular basis for short haul flights in Europe since January, and most impressed. Whilst the check in area can get busy at peak morning times, the rest of the terminal is very nice and a real step up for Heathrow. Only once have I had to transfer here, that from T4 to T5 and I would agree that Heathrow is not a customer friendly airport for that process - but still a lot better than the dreadful Paris CDG or Frankfurt!

Experience At Airport

Arrival and Departure

Date Visit

April 2018

Type Of Traveller

Business

Queuing Times

12345

Terminal Cleanliness

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Terminal Seating

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Food Beverages

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Airport Shopping

12345

Wifi Connectivity

12345

Airport Staff

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Recommended

yes

1/10

"updating their computer systems"

S Simpson (United States) 14th April 2018

❎ Not Verified | Sat on tarmac at Athens international airport on April 9th 2108, for almost one hour because London Heathrow tower was updating their computer systems and thus causing everyone to sit on the plane with nothing to do, causing a 3.5 hour flight to turn into 4.5 hour flight with no food offered on British Airways while waiting.

Experience At Airport

Arrival and Departure

Date Visit

April 2018

Type Of Traveller

Family Leisure

Queuing Times

12345

Terminal Cleanliness

12345

Terminal Seating

12345

Terminal Signs

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Food Beverages

N/A

Airport Shopping

12345

Wifi Connectivity

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Recommended

no

8/10

"efficient and clean terminal"

❎ Not Verified | Terminal 5 at Heathrow is very clean and new it has lots of big shops and lots of places to eat! To go to the the gates for long-haul flights there is a small computer operated train that takes you to those gates. There are also lots of seats and info boards dotted around the place. Overall a very efficient and clean terminal.

Experience At Airport

Arrival and Departure

Date Visit

May 2017

Type Of Traveller

Family Leisure

Queuing Times

12345

Terminal Cleanliness

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Terminal Seating

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Terminal Signs

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Food Beverages

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Airport Shopping

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Wifi Connectivity

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Airport Staff

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Recommended

yes

2/10

"Queues were incredibly slow"

W Li (United Kingdom) 10th April 2018

✅ Trip Verified | Had a delay with flight which meant we had an hour to make it to our connecting flight. We told the ground transfer staff within Terminal 3 and they told us to get to back of the queue and said they couldn't do anything. They weren't even polite about it. Queues were incredibly slow and the staff were rude and looked like they just didn't want to be there. I don't think they understand customer service. My mother got yelled at for not knowing how to use the passport scanner to get through, she understands limited english and the staff member who stood there (which I assume is there to assist people) tutted at my mother and rolled her eyes when I asked if she could assist my mother. This made me so angry. Why were they even there if it was such a chore to assist members of the public? Ridiculous. Security queues are long and slow and you can understand why, because staff members don't care. We were standing at the queue which also allowed Priority Members - but it only just joined our queue which was inefficient. I've been through many airports and I can honestly say that Heathrow contains the most inefficient, incompetent and incredibly rude staff members. It doesn't hurt to have good manners.

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